Data transfer apparatus



July 5, 1966 E. SINGER ETAI.

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July 5, 1966 E. SINGER :TAL 3,259,886

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ATTORNEYS July 5, 1966 E. SINGER ETAL 3,259,886

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EDWIN SINGER PHILIP ROSENBLATT BY EVELYN HEREZIN WLENITZ F lg. 4C

July 5, 1966 E. SINGER ETAI.

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ED WIN SINGER PHIL IP POSENBLA'TT BYEVELYN SEPEZIN WILENITZ July 5, 1966 E. SINGER ETAL 3,259,886

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EDWIN SINGER PHIL/P EOSENELA'TT BY EVELYN BEEEZ/N WILENITZ July 5, 1965 E. SINGER ETAL.

DATA TRANSFER APPARATUS 19 Sheets-Sheet 18 Filed July 7, 1961 INI/EN TOR. EDWIN SINGER PHIL/P EOSENBLATT BY EVELYN BEREZIN WILENITZ July 5, 1966 E. SINGER ETAL DATA TRANSFER APPARATUS 19 Sheets-Sheet 19 Filed July 7, 1961 Fig. 4C

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INVENTOR. F|g Enwm/ SINGER l PHILIP RDSENBLATT BY EVELYN BEREZIN WILENTZ United States Patent O 3,259,886 DATA TRANSFER APPARATUS Edwin Singer, Stamford, Conn., and Philip Rosenblatt, Mount Vernon, and Evelyn Berezin Wilenitz, New York, N.Y., assignors to The Bunker-Ramo Corporalion, a corporation of Delaware Filed July 7, 1961, Ser. No. 122,490 4 Claims. (Cl. S40-172.5)

The present invention relates to high speed data processing systems. More in particular, this invention relates to improved apparatus for effecting the internal transfer of data within the computer proper, i.e. between a central data processor and its associated peripheral equipments.

The central data processor consists of all the controls, memory, and arithmetic devices required to perform the necessary manipulations of data, and may, for example, include a high-speed magnetic core array or the like for storing data during the processing thereof. The aggregate of all other devices in the data processing system is termed the peripheral equipment. The peripheral equipment can include, for example, magnetic drums, magnetic tapes, automatic typewriters, teletype units, punched card equipment, paper tape punches, and readers. Also included are especially designed input/output devices called keysets, as well as the logical circuitry operating to effect transfer of information to or from the processor.

This invention is especially directed to so-called online systems, ie., systems required to receive information on a random basis from many sources, sometimes over great distances, and to process this information and send back answers, all in very short time periods. On-line data processing systems have been used for many years for industrial and military problems which may broadly be termed inventory control, and which may be regional, nationwide or even worldwide in scope. Examples of such problems are the control and reservation of passenger or cargo space in the transportation industry; the handling of deposits and withdrawals in a savings bank with many branches; the processing, distributing and retrieval of information concerning stock transactions and quotations; and the control of product or supply inventory for large scale manufacturing and distributing organizations.

Computers designed for on-line data processing work have unique requirements not present in the usual commercial data processing situations. Among these requirements are the need for highly reliable continuous performance, multiple inputs, very large storage of information, ability to handle peak loads without wast of computer power, and ability to quickly change programs from one type of transaction to another.

Fast access to large amounts of information, combined with `high speed processing of that information, is best achieved by performing the arithmetic (processor) operations in parallel with information transfer to or from the peripheral equipment, ln other words, computation is performed in the central processor concurrently with the transfer of data to or from the many different storage devices or input-output devices of the peripheral equipment. Since the central processor normally operates much faster than the terminal equipment, this simultaneous computation and information retrieval assures that full advantage is taken of the processor speed, i.e. the processor need not be required to operate at the slower speed of the peripheral equipment.

In the illustrative embodiment of the present invention to be described herein, the system is so arranged that data required from the peripheral equipment is transferred almost immediately to the central processor, one

digit at a time. This is accomplished by an interlacing system of data transfer in which the processor is stopped whenever a digit of the data is available for transfer to the processor. This result is achieved by means of peripheral equipment control registers which, once activated `by the central processor, independently control the transfer of data between the peripheral unit and the processor.

The present invention is directed particularly to a synchronizing register" which temporarily stores the data to be transferred to or from the central processor. The processor is capable of operating at a higher speed than the peripheral equipments, and the synchronizing register disclosed herein includes means to assure smooth data transfer at the different speeds of operation. During a data transfer to the central processor, for example, the synchronizing register produces a signal whenever it has storage space available for another digit from the peripheral equipment, thereby causing the next digit to be transferred from the peripheral equipment to the register; similarly, when this register has a digit to be transfered to the processor, it produces another signal which effects the transfer at the next available cycle of the processor.

Since with this system many peripheral units may be in condition to transfer data to or from the processor core memory at the same time, and because with such a core memory only one address can be selected during any one core cycle, a predetermined set of transfer priorities are provided to control the data transfer. For example, a magnetic tape unit is given higher priority than a magnetic drum, since if a tape character is missed it is necessary to go through the rather lengthy procedure of stopping and rewinding the tape, and then making another pass in the forward direction, whereas if a drum character is missed it can be picked up automatically 0n the next drum spin.

A priority selector circuit, to be described hereinbelow in detail, receives BID signals from the various peripheral equipments indicating that information transfers are to be made, selects a particular peripheral equipment according to a preset priority schedule, and develops an allow" signal indicating the peripheral equipment selected for transfer of data to or from the processor core memory. If a magnetic tape unit, for example, is assigned top priority, and is in condition to place a digit in the processor core memory at the same instant that a magnetic drum assigned the next priority also is so conditioned, the transfer from the drum will be delayed until the tape digit transfer is complete.

Peripheral equipment control registers are provided to control the transfer of data between peripheral equipments and the processor core memory. Typically, these control registers contain information defining the function to be executed (for example, read or write), the processor core location to or from which data is to be transferred, and the location in the peripheral equipment to or from which data is to `be transferred. Thus the peripheral equipment can, for short periods of time, be operated by the control register independently of the central processor. When a control register has been fed a transfer instruction, that register assumes complete control of the actual data transfer, and the peripheral equipment is, in effect, disconnected from the central processor to carry out the instruction independently of the processor or any other peripheral equipments. In other words, the peripheral equipments take key instructions from the processor and sequence through a limited series of steps under their own control.

Once the transfer instruction has been fed to the peripheral equipment control register, the processor is free to carry out other instructions in accordance with its 

2. APPARATUS FOR SYNCHRONOUSLY TRANSFERRING DATA BETWEEN A CENTRAL PROCESSOR UNIT OPERATING AT A FIRST FIXED SPEEDD AND A PERIPHERAL UNIT OPERATING AT A SECOND FIXED SPEED INDEPENDENT OF THE OPERATING SPEED OF SAID PROCESSOR UNIT, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF REGISTER STAGES EACH CAPABLE OF STORING ONE DECIMAL DIGIT, A PLURALITY OF CONTROL DEVICES EACH ASOCIATED WITH ONE OF SAID REGISTER STAGES TO INDICATE WHETHER THE CORRESPONDING STAGE IS CONDITIONED TO RECEIVE OR TRANSFER A DIGIT OF DATA, FIRST GATE CIRCUIT MEANS SYNCHRONIZED WITH THE OPERATION OF ONE OF SAID UNITS FOR SEQUENITALLY COUPLING THE INPUTS OF SAID REGISTER STAGES TO SAID ONE UNIT TO RECEIVE THE DATA THEREFROM, FIRST CONTROL CIRCUIT MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE STATE OF SAID CONTROL DEVICES FOR ACTIVATING SAID GATE CIRCUIT MEANS ONLY WHEN THE NEXT REGISTER STAGE IN SEQUENCE IS CONDITINED TO RECEIVE A DIGIT OF SATA, SECOND GATE CIRCUIT MEANS SYNCHRONIZED WITH THE OPERATION OF THE OTHER ONE OF SAID UNITS FOR SEQUENTIALLY COUPLING THE OUTPUTS OF SAID REGISTER STAGES TO SAID OTHER UNIT TO TRANSFER THE STORED DATA TO SAID OTHER UNIT, AND SECOND CONTROL CIRCUIT MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE STATE OF SAID CONTROL DEVICES FOR ACTIVATING SAID SECOND GATE CIRCUIT MEANS ONLY WHEN AT LEAST ONE OF SAID REGISTER STAGES IS CONDITIONED TO TRANSFER A DIGIT OF DATA TO SAID OTHER UNIT. 